Pakistan utilised only 29pc of funds pledged after 2022 floods

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan could utilize just 29.4 percent of donor funding for flood projects, with Balochistan showing the lowest financial progress of 1.7 percent till May 2024. The province could utilize only $6.97 million till May against the allocated funds of $408 million for flood-related projects.

The financial progress achieved by Sindh on funds remained 41.2 percent, as the second largest province of the country’s cumulative spending stood at $805.7 million till May against the allocated funds of $1.658 billion.

Out of the total pledged amount of $3.367 billion by the international donors and local funds of $364 million, the financial progress of 29.4 percent was achieved by utilizing $1.091 billion till May countrywide. The federal government has so far utilized $258.89 million against the allocated funds of $829.4 million.

The financial progress of Punjab stood at 100 percent, as the largest province of the country utilized the total donor-funded amount of $2.8 million. There was no local funding earmarked for flood-related projects. The KP has achieved financial progress of 3.5 percent and utilized $16.82 million so far against the allocated funds of $468 million.

Keeping in view this dismal performance on utilizing donor-funded projects, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema chaired the 4th meeting of the International Partners Support Group (IPSG) at the Prime Minister’s Office here on Tuesday. The meeting marked almost two years since the devastating floods of 2022, aiming to review the progress of flood recovery and realign efforts for a resilient Pakistan.

Highlighting the IPSG’s pivotal role in coordinating the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), he outlined its objectives: assisting in plan development, securing financial commitments, providing guidance, and addressing funding gaps. Mr. Cheema emphasized provincial cooperation and reiterated the commitment to transparency in implementing 4RF projects, as pledged by the prime minister in the previous IPSG meeting.

The minister recalled the pledges made at the “International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan” held in Geneva, with an amount of US$10.987 billion pledged by the international community of which US$2.8 billion, up to April 2024, has been disbursed.

The sources explained that this amount of $2.8 billion also included the repurpose of funding such as the oil facility of $1 billion. For projects, the utilised funding stood at $1.091 billion.